MR BUCHANAN AT TAUERU.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5499, 1 December 1896, Page 3

MR BUCHANAN AT TAUERU.

Mr W. C. Buchanan addressed a large meeting of tlio electors at. the Taueru last evening, Mr J. Taplin waa in the chair. Mr Buchanan said he had, during the fifteen years he had represented them, tried to place his political views and actions before them in a thoroughly honest and straightforward manner. There was one little personal matter introduced into thia campaign which lit! wonlllikeclearedup. MrHornsby had complained that bis opponents bad oiroalated the statement " That he, Hornsby, had been separated from his wife forseveral years," andMrHomsby had coupled his (the speaker's) name with the statement. To any connection with this statement be gave an emphatic denial. During the fifteen years he had represented them he had never resorted to personal nnimosities and abuse. He had tried his utmost to find where the statements originated and ho had come to 1 the conclusion that this was one of the schemes made use of for gaining sympathy. Mr Hornsby's hands ( Were not clean in regard to slauderous statements. Mr Hornsby Ims been mixed up with libels and lmd P had to answer for them, A son of Mr Alfred Saunders, the oldest M.H.fi. in New Zealand, who is now editor of the Lijttdton Times, was called" a perjurer" by Mr Hornsby and for this he had to answer beforo a judge of the Supreme Court. Ho hoped Mr Hornsby would cle.ir his own oharacter before commencing to slander hifn. All lie wanted was to give every man a fair field and no favour. (Applause). The speaker disctiß3ed at length the borrowing proclivities of the . Seddon administration and showed by figures that if they were permitted to continue in power the people of New Zealand would soon be more hewerß of wood and drawers of. water for the English moneylender. ■

Government should be honest; our public policy should be like our private polioy would be in dealing with the finances. Out of a million loan for the- Main Trunk Eailway only £32,000 had been appropriated; the remainder had been spent for political purposes on the Soutb Mand Midland Kailway. When Ms Hornsby was asked whether any of this loan had been spent onUhis South Island Railway, he replied "Not a shilling." In the face of this we find that last year £IO,OOO and this year £25,000 was spent on this line. What could they think of Mr Hornby's honesty. The Old Age Pension Bill had been introduced by the Government at the end of the session. They were told by their own supporters that it was merely an extensidn of the Charitable Aid Boheme, When a scheme to assist old age was brought in it should he one that would make them feel that they were not receiving Charitable Aid so that they could retain their respect and independence. He asked those present how the Eight Hours Bill was going to work with shearers and numbers of other workers. The Government had admitted its unworkableness when they excluded their own printing office from its operations. He asked what -was the use of legislation which could only be applied to one man and not another? Every man should be placed on the same footing in this matter. • Mr Seddon complained that the -Upper House was a clog on legislation. If this was so the present Liberal Government was responsible aa by far the largest majority of its membors had been appointed by them. In the 'Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act nine liberal members out of twenty-five voted against it. Seven voted against the Eight flours Bill, the. Private Benefit Societies Bill, the Shearers Accommodation Bill, and the Wages Protection Bill, and eight voted against the Usury Prevention Bill. If any blame for these measures not not in all truth be the so-called Conservative members. It had been stated in election meetings that his sympathies were not with the men who wanted oheap money. He asked who could be in By mpathy with these men if he was not, ■ He was a borrower'and must necessarily be in sympathy with borrowers, but he could not see the justice of making the taxpayer meet the losses which had resulted and must result from the they had introduced. In one year there were seventy borrowers of this cheap money who could not meet the interest due on their loans. The taxpayer would have to meet these -losses, The Land Settleiuentquestion was dealt with at length. He said Mr Homsby bad told his audience that 900 acres which belonged to their bumble servant should be taken from him and given to fifty families. Now if that land was in the way of town or was in any way a bar to progress he would not mind it being taken, but he would challenge Mr Hornsby to sty that there was fifty acres anywhere which had more money Bpent on it in improvements and labonr than his 900 acres (hear, hear, and applause.) The present Government were taking the land from the people of the Colony and giying .it to the ' absentee by putting men on the land with borrowed money, who work to pay the absentee the interest on the money borrowed; the latter was the real owner of the land, The sentiment of the freehold would never die out of the breasts of settlers. Mr Buchanan then gave results of the trial of the co-operative labour by the London County Council and a number of other bodies both English and foreign and showed from their figures that such labour resulted in enormous losses. Co-operative r labour in New Zealand was badly managed- and was causing great losses which the general taxpayer was called upon to make good. Every man had to be taxed to produce the money incurred by their losses. In the good old days settlers had a healthy, hearty and unquali- • fied contempt for the Government stroke, bnt now they wore cultivating this Government stroke to the taxpayers'loss. In concluding Mr Buchanan said he was quite satisfied to submit himself, for their approval on the. 4th December, when he felt sure their good judgment would, again return him as their representative (applause). Mr T, P. Lett asked whether the candidate considered the settlement of. the Cheviot Estate a success. Mr Buchanan said he had taken the trouble to go over the estate. Ho had then formed an opinion since which he had found no reason to depart from, That portion of the estate set apart for agriculture was in too small areas and could not ba a success. They must remember that the land was not taken under! .tbe Lands for Settlefnent'Aft. bnt

was offered to the Government by the owners. Mr Lett: Is it true that Captain Russell is going about his electorate riding on a baker's cart and making out that lie is one of the people (Loud laughter). Mr Buchanan said anybody that know Captain Russell would know that he was the last man to be guilty of such a tiling. Ho thought it would he interesting to know where such a statement originated. Mr Lett said lie did not know, A man he had picked np on the road told him. A number of other questions being satisfactorily answered Miss Manning ascended the platform and presented a bouquet of flowers to Mr Buchanan on behalf of the lady residents of the Taueru. Mr Buchanan suitably replied. An unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to the candidate on the motion of Mr C. Rogers and seconded by Mr Whatman. Aftor a vote of thanks to the 'chair had been carried, one man called for three cheers for Horn§by, which was respondod to with a groan